Are players ready to accept salary rollbacks, not-so-hard salary cap?

It sounds like NBA owners are finally realizing that players won’t accept a salary cap.

Call it anything you want, but players appear unwilling to budge on the idea of an absolute ceiling that would limit what a team could pay on salaries.

The NBA owners now are talking about a much more stringent system than the current luxury tax, which requires a $1-for-$1 penalty a team must pay to the league for the amount it exceeds the salary cap.

Now, owners are talking about a $3-for-$1 penalty or even a $4-for-$1 penalty for owners who exceed the cap.

It’s not actually a salary cap, but getting much closer to it. It would be hard for a team like the Los Lakers, who far exceeded the cap with an NBA-leading payroll of more than $100 million last season. Asking an owner to double, triple or quadruple his luxury-tax payments to the league isn’t a salary cap, but effectively will act like one.

The owners also are seeking an alteration the “Larry Bird exception,” which allows teams to exceed the cap to retain their own free agents regardless of their other committed salaries. It would be limited to one player per team per season.

And the mid-level exception, which the league valued at $5.4 million last season and could be extended by as many as five years, would be reduced in length and size.

The owners have also moderated in the chuck of the basketball-related income they would provide, upping their offer to 48 percent. The players received 57 percent in their most recent contract.

These are some notable concessions, but agreeing to the deal would still cost the players’ union millions from their current best proposal.

Look for both sides to try and work a deal through the negotiating today, heading into the Rosh Hashanah holidays. If there is no real movement, the next round of postponements could come as early as next week.

Both sides are hopeful of preserving the Nov. 1 start of the regular season.

But if they truly want a deal, much more bending will be needed from the owners and the players at today’s negotiating session.